Eagles spread wealth to blast Warriors

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NORTH ANDOVER — Boston College has an overwhelmingly talented top line, but the Eagles now are winning close games with balance and defense.

They received goals from three different lines last night in a 4-1 Hockey East victory against Merrimack at Lawler Arena.

The No. 2-ranked Eagles (17-4-3, 11-1-1) are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games and outshot the Warriors, 26-20.

“Tonight was more a good, physical, hard-run, football-type game,” BC coach Jerry York said. “You have to win all types of games if you are going to make the goals we set for ourselves. Our top line had a goal, but we are trying to build on other people. To win games like these you need a long bench.”

The Eagles jumped two spots in the latest national poll after registering home wins last week against Boston University and Maine. They will play at Penn State and Providence before facing BU in the opening round of the Beanpot on Feb. 3 at the Garden.

The Warriors (6-12-3, 1-6-2) are the hottest bottom-tier program in Hockey East. They scored upsets last week against ECAC opponents No. 11 Clarkson and No. 5 Quinnipiac before resuming Hockey East play against the Eagles.

“We don’t come up here thinking anything other than it is going to be a tough W to get,” York said. “I was proud of our team coming up here and playing very well.”

Boston College’s top trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Billy Arnold and Kevin Hayes put the team up 1-0 on its first shift. Gaudreau set up Hayes for an open wrist shot that was blocked by Warriors goalie Rasmus Tirronen (22 saves). The soft rebound bounded off Merrimack defenseman Dan Kolomatis and trickled over the line at 1:23. The Arnold line has 60 points (23 goals, 37 assists) with a plus-47 rating in the team’s past 10 games.

“That early goal helped get us started, and there was a good feeling on the bench,” York said.

Merrimack survived a BC power play and then tied the game at 4:47. Sophomore Brian Christie advanced the puck up the boards from the corner and fed senior Mike Collins in the circle. Collins fired a wrist shot through a massive screen that beat BC freshman goalie Thatcher Demko (19 saves), who was making his ninth start.

The Warriors committed five minor penalties in the period. That risky behavior caught up to them with 41 seconds to play when BC’s Adam Gilmour redirected a Teddy Doherty blast from the point for his fifth goal of the season.

“It was not the start we wanted, and we had to kill half the period,” Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said.

BC took a 3-1 lead off a nice collaboration at 8:31 of the second period. Freshman defenseman Scott Savage stopped a clearing attempt on the blue line and fed the puck to Ryan Fitzgerald, who relayed it to Patrick Brown in the left circle. The senior center ripped a wrist shot that beat Tirronen to the far post on the glove side.

Freshman Austin Cangelosi scored an open-net goal inside the final minute for his eighth of the season.